Horn Trio (Brahms)
The Horn Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40, by Johannes Brahms is a chamber piece in four movements written for natural horn,[1] violin, and piano. Composed in 1865, the work commemorates the death of Brahms’ mother, Christiane, earlier that year. However, it draws on a theme which Brahms had composed twelve years previously but did not publish at the time.[2] The work was first performed in Zurich on November 28, 1865, and was published a year later in November 1866. The Horn Trio was the last chamber piece Brahms wrote for the next eight years.[3]
Brahms chose to write the work for natural horn rather than valve horn despite the fact that the valve horn was becoming more common. The timbre of the natural horn is more somber and melancholic than the valve horn and creates a much different mood. Nineteenth-century listeners associated the sound of the natural horn with nature and the calls of the hunt. Fittingly, Brahms once said that the opening theme of the first movement came to him while he was walking through the woods. Brahms also learned natural horn (as well as piano and cello) as a child, which may be another reason why he chose to write for these instruments following the death of his mother.[4][5]
Brahms revised the trio in 1891.[a]
Movements
The work is divided into four movements:
In the first movement, Brahms emphasizes the simplicity of the opening theme by abandoning the structure of sonata form[6] in favour of three slow sections offset by two shorter, more rhapsodic segments. Brahms also deviates from classical practice by adopting a slow-fast-slow-fast order of movements, perhaps looking back to the old sonata da chiesa form.[b][8]
The Scherzo represents a lighter side of grief; since the work as a whole simulates the stages of mourning, the Scherzo serves as the reminder of happy memories.[original research?] As in the first movement, Brahms uses the pitches of the E-flat overtone series to establish the theme. (This theme is found in some variation in every movement, most directly in the Finale.) The playfulness that the tempo suggests offers a break from the slow and somber surrounding movements. The contrasting trio section uses transposed material from a small unpublished piano piece (Albumblatt) which Brahms had written twelve years earlier, in 1853.[2]
The Adagio mesto opens with four measures of solo piano in the low register of the instrument; this sets up the solemn, contemplative mood of the movement that is emphasized by the entrance of the violin and horn. Mason held the Adagio from the Horn Trio to be one of Brahms’ most impassioned and heartfelt slow movements.[9]
The Finale contains the main theme that is present in the previous three movements, but it is prominently displayed in E-flat major in a lively tempo.[10] The joy felt in the Finale symbolizes the recovery at the end of mourning.[original research?]
See also
- Horn trio
- Trio for horn, violin, and piano (Banks)
- Trio for horn, violin, and piano (Berkeley)
- Horn Trio (Holbrooke) - An early twentieth-century work composed as a companion to the Brahms Horn Trio
- Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano (Ligeti)
References
- Notes
- ^ Wilson 2005, p. 36
- ^ a b Needham 2012
- ^ Garrett 1998, p. 13
- ^ Drinker 1932, p. 111
- ^ Geiringer 2009, p. 231
- ^ Walter Frisch (2001). "Johannes Brahms". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
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:|access-date=
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(help)[verification needed] - ^ Swafford 1999, p. 300
- ^ Donat 1998, p. 5
- ^ Mason 1933, p. 84
- ^ Mason 1933, p. 85
- Sources
- Donat, Misha (1998). Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): The Complete Trios – The Florestan Trio, Stephen Stirling (horn), Richard Hosford (clarinet) (PDF) (CD). Hyperion Records. CDD22082. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Drinker, Henry S. (1932). The chamber music of Johannes Brahms (PDF). Philadelphia: Allen, Lane & Scott.
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: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Garrett, Joshua (1998). Brahms’ Horn Trio: Background and Analysis for Performers (PDF) (DMA). The Juilliard School.
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: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Geiringer, Karl (2009). Brahms: His Life and Work. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80223-6.
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: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Mason, Daniel Gregory (1933). The Chamber Music of Brahms (PDF). New York: The Macmillan Company.
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: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Needham, Alex (13 February 2012). "Brahms Piano Piece to Get Its Premiere 159 Years After Its Creation". The Guardian.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Swafford, Jan (1999). Johannes Brahms: A Biography. London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-33372589-1.
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: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) - Wilson, Conrad (2005). Notes on Brahms: 20 Crucial Works. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0-8028-2991-0.
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: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
External links
- Brahms Horn Trio, Op.40: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- "Brahms' Trio in E-flat Major for Piano, Violin & Horn - La Jolla Music Society SummerFest 2014". YouTube. 17 October 2014.